NEW DELHI: India is leading two global resolutions at the United Nations Environment Assembly to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, later this month.
While one of the resolutions is on reactive nitrogen, the other is on eradicating single-use plastic. This is the first time that India will lead a resolution on the use of plastic.
“Excess nitrogen pollution has tremendous consequences on humans and the environment. In the form of nitrous oxide, for example, it is 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, in addition to the effects of various nitrogen compounds on air quality and the ozone layer. Altogether, humans are producing a cocktail of reactive nitrogen that threatens health, climate and ecosystems, making nitrogen one of the most important pollution issues facing humanity,” the report released by the UN Environment Assembly read.
“Yet the scale of the problem remains largely unknown and unacknowledged outside scientific circles,” it added.
Nitrogen is essential for life and is an abundant element in the earth’s atmosphere. In the molecule form, nitrogen is harmless, making up 78 per cent of every breath we take. In terms of plastic use, the report warns about the dire consequences of single-use plastics.”
As we know, most plastics are non-biodegradable and single-use plastics are more dangerous as they are discarded after one use. This leads to accumulation of plastic and its harmful effects are known to the world,” the report read.
Professor N Raghuram, chair of the International Nitrogen Initiative, expressed happiness that both resolutions, which are important, are garnering attention on the global stage. “Nitrogen pollution is seldom talked of and now that the UN has given it recognition, more and more research would be conducted on it. Plastics, on the other hand, are known contaminants but single-use plastics catching the UN eye is a good sign. This will lead to global ramifications,” he said.